Obama has destroyed the country, Clinton is Obama on steroids. Trump has promise, but he is still a political unknown. Putin is, hands down, the best leader for his people in the world.

What makes Putin so great? Russia’s wealthy pay tax with a 13% flat tax in place. Russia does not admit immigrants unless they have a place and purpose for them. In short, Putin puts his people first, he has not sold out the Russians in order to serve some globalist agenda.

Where should America turn? Listen to the following and leave your suggestion in the comments section.

NOTE: This article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of NewsWithViews.com, it's employees, representatives, or other contributing writers. NWV's supports the state of Israel, and the Jewish peoples' right to their Biblical homeland.]

Let me begin with a cold, hard (albeit unpopular) fact:

1. The Neocons in Washington, D.C., are not only America’s greatest threat; they are the world’s greatest threat.

Compared to the threat that Neocons pose to world peace and the sheer numbers of people killed by Neocon-generated wars (numbering into the millions of people), militant Muslims are like children playing with squirt guns in a sand box. And forget the left-right, conservative-liberal paradigm you’ve always been taught. All of that is only for electioneering. The real battle is between Americanism and Globalism, and Neocons are ALL about Globalism.

Please read my column “What is A Neocon?”

Of course, Neocons can count success all the way back to the days of Richard Nixon and even back to Woodrow Wilson. But it was George H.W. Bush who snuck in the Neocon Trojan Horse while the American people were sound asleep. And his successors Bill Clinton, G.W. Bush, and Barack Obama have given Neocons almost total run of the place ever since. The political parties these men represent mean nothing. The real people they represent are the Neocons.

The reason we have been at war ever since Bush I invaded Kuwait and Bush II invaded Afghanistan and Iraq has nothing to do with those countries posing any imminent threat to the United States or anything of the kind. The reason we have been at war--and will stay at war--is because the Neocons want us at war. They enrich and empower themselves through war, and they fulfill their economic/political/cultural/tribal agendas through war. And this is the same reason the Neocons have set up ISIS, Al Nusra, et al. as proxy armies to take the war into Syria and eventually Iran.

The US army Chief of Staff Mark Milley claimed at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the Russian equipment surpasses the American analogues in many characteristics. The gap is not quite distinctive, but theoretically they outrange and outgun us, Mark Milley said. According to him, the American troops are able to effectively oppose rebel, terror groups, or regional countries' armies. However, in case of a clash with armed, "non-nuclear" forces of Russia, the US losses would be above the mark. The General also reminded that Russia is still a threat number one for the US security. Thus, the fundamental task in this region is to secure deterrence, maintain cohesion of the alliance, support allies and constrain a possible Russian aggression," the General claimed. -

Since Barack Obama has been in the White House, high ranking military officers have been removed from their positions at a rate that is absolutely unprecedented.Things have gotten so bad that a number of retired generals are publicly speaking out about the 'purg' of the U.S. military that they believe is taking place. As you will see below, dozens of highly decorated military leaders have been dismissed from their positions over the past few years. So why is this happening? What is going on right now is absolutely crazy especially during a time of peace. Is there a deliberate attempt to reshape the military and remove those who don't adhere to the proper 'viewpoints' ? Does someone out there feel a need to get officers that won't cooperate out of the way?

Throughout world history, whatever comes next after a military purge is never good.
If this continues, what is the U.S. military going to look like in a few years?

Surprise, Surprise: ‘Russia’s Military More Advanced Than People Thought’

Quote:

12:22 02.02.2016(updated 12:31 02.02.2016)
The Western media seems to be acknowledging the might and capability of Russia’s military, admitting that the country's strategy and tactics outmatch those of its adversaries, and Syria has only “allowed it to showcase” this to the world.

A New York-based online magazine, Business Insider, has published a video which is more explicit than a thousand words, entitled “Russia's military is more advanced than people thought.” It summarizes the recent achievements of the Russian air campaign in Syria.
Foreign experts seem to be becoming more and more surprised with the might and capability of the Russian Military, noting that Syria has only “allowed it to showcase its progress in the world.”
A posted video summarizes Russia’s success in Syria, noting the state-of-the-art equipment Moscow is using in its air campaign.

THE BUZZ
Face the Facts: Russia's Military Is Modernizing Into a Lethal Fighting Force

Dan Goure
May 17, 2016

Quote:

Thankfully, the Russian military is not ten feet tall. No one said it is. But that is the way some unnamed “senior Pentagon officials” want to spin the legitimate concerns of senior military officers regarding the challenges posed by the improved capabilities of a rapidly modernizing Russian military. It is even worse when some in the media try not only to make such a case but to demean the reputation and honesty of a military officer who is courageously attempting to get the Obama Administration and the American people to take seriously a growing threat to our national security and that of our allies.

Russian military modernization and the challenge it poses to the nation and the military has been publicly acknowledged at the most senior levels of the Department of Defense. Explaining the need for the so-called Third Offset Strategy, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work explained that one of the motivations was the need to respond to the challenges posed by the Russian military. “It’s modernizing a military that was in steep decline throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s. Its naval and air units are operating at a pace and an extent that hasn’t been seen in quite some time, to include a large increase in trans-oceanic and global military operations.” The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics has been telling anyone who will listen that the United States is losing its technological advantage vis-à-vis China and Russia in the air and maritime domains, electronic warfare, space, reliable communications and ISR.

Russia is doubling the number of its strategic nuclear warheads on new missiles by deploying multiple reentry vehicles that have put Moscow over the limit set by the New START arms treaty, according to Pentagon officials.

A recent intelligence assessment of the Russian strategic warhead buildup shows that the increase is the result of the addition of multiple, independently targetable reentry vehicles, or MIRVs, on recently deployed road-mobile SS-27 and submarine-launched SS-N-32 missiles, said officials familiar with reports of the buildup.

“The Russians are doubling their warhead output,” said one official. “They will be exceeding the New START [arms treaty] levels because of MIRVing these new systems.”

The 2010 treaty requires the United States and Russia to reduce deployed warheads to 1,550 warheads by February 2018.

The National Interest
THE BUZZ
Russia's Lethal Thermobaric Rocket Launchers: A Game Changer in Syria?

Dave Majumdar
December 2, 2015

Russia is reportedly deploying the TOS-1 Buratino multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) to Syria as part of its expanded presence in that country. It is unclear how many of the weapons have been sent to Syria, reports suggest a substantial number have been deployed. Indeed, there are videos of the Buratino purportedly in action in Syria’s Latakia province.

But while Russia has deployed other ground vehicles and artillery pieces to the war-torn country, the use of the Buratino in Syria is likely to draw a strong reaction from many quarters. Based on the chassis of the T-72 tank, the TOS-1 is no ordinary self-propelled artillery piece—it is primarily designed to launch massive thermobaric charges against infantry in confined spaces such as urban areas or mountainous regions. While there is no question of the effectiveness and devastating power of thermobaric or fuel-air explosives, such weapons are inherently imprecise and cause massive collateral damage if used in built up areas.

At its core, the TOS-1 Buratino is a T-72 tank with its turret removed in favor of a thirty-pack of 220mm rockets. The rockets come in two versions—one with a thermobaric charge and another that uses an incendiary device. Unlike traditional artillery, the Buratino is designed as a support weapon for infantry that are clearing out enemy troops in urban areas or forces that are dug-in in mountainous regions—similar in concept to World War II-era assault guns like the Soviet ISU-152 or Nazi Sturmtiger. As such, the rockets have a relatively short maximum range of about 5,000 meters and a minimum range of about 400m. The Buratino is not assigned to the regular Russian artillery troops, rather it is a weapon that is normally employed by specialized nuclear, biological and chemical warfare troops as part of a flamethrower battalion.

A Buratino can obliterate a roughly 200m by 400m area with a single salvo. In other words, it can instantly turn several city blocks into smoldering rubble with a single shot. That’s because unlike with conventional explosives that incorporate their own oxidizers, thermobaric explosive rely on the atmosphere to provide them with oxygen. Basically, the warhead releases a cloud of chemicals—such as tetranite—which mixes with the air before it explodes. The resultant explosion—which is usually much larger than an equivalent weight of conventional ordnance—creates a massive high temperature blast and a high-pressure shock wave. Those who are in the affected area—who are not immediately incinerated—die when the overpressure destroys their lungs.

Russian forces used the Buratino—which was developed during the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan—to devastating effect in breakaway republic of Chechnya in southern Russia during the 1990s. There, Russian forces effectively flattened the city of Grozny using weapons like the TOS-1 in urban combat—effectively advancing their infantry after the thermobaric rockets cleared out any would be resistance. More recently, the weapon has also shown up in Ukraine serving with Russian-backed rebel forces in the eastern parts of that country. At least seven Buratinos have been spotted in Ukraine according to that country’s defense ministry—one vehicle was allegedly destroyed in the fighting.

Russia’s reported deployment of the TOS-1 to Syria likely signals that Moscow’s ground forces will be playing a much more active role in the fighting in that country.

The Russian military suffered years of neglect after the Soviet collapse and no longer casts the shadow of a global superpower. However, the Russian armed forces are in the midst of a historic overhaul with significant consequences for Eurasian politics and security. Russian officials say the reforms are necessary to bring a Cold War-era military into the twenty-first century, but many Western analysts fear they will enable Moscow to pursue a more aggressive foreign policy, often relying on force to coerce its weaker neighbors. Some say Russian interventions in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014–2015—both former Soviet republics seeking closer ties to the West—demonstrate that President Vladimir Putin is prepared to use military might to reestablish Russian hegemony in its near abroad.

WASHINGTON — Russian-backed attacks on Ukraine have allowed the U.S. military to study Russian tactics and begin to incorporate the intelligence gathered into the training of American troops, the commander of U.S. Army-Europe said Wednesday.
Since Russian-backed forces invaded and annexed Crimea in March 2014, Ukrainian forces have faced Russian-trained soldiers and Russian-provided equipment and capabilities, including advanced electronic warfare and mortars. The heavy casualties suffered by Ukraine from the more advanced Russian attacks led some lawmakers in Congress along with other U.S. officials to call for helping Ukraine defend itself by supplying weapons.

In any war, certain weapons come symbolize one side in the fighting, specific tactics or political factors. In that spirit, a specific tank has become the icon of Russia's secret war in Ukraine.

On June 3, 2016, Ukrainian blogger "sled_vzayt" posted a batch of evidence showing advanced T-72B3 tanks — as well as other armored vehicles and heavy weapons — and their Russian crews in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region and right across the border in Russia.

Transgenders in Uniform – The US Military’s Latest Lunacy
By Ray Starmann

Quote:

Welcome to 2016 when male soldiers train in pregnancy simulators, tactical lactation stations dot the battlefield, women are fraudulently passed through Ranger School and US Navy sailors willingly surrender their boats and equipment to Iranian thugs without so much as firing a flare.

It’s the era of breast milk in the field and Liberace joins Delta Force…

A perfect storm, a Category Five hurricane of doom and destruction is sweeping over the US military with the deadly accuracy of the Angel of Death on Passover. We have a President who is intent on destroying the military through insane social engineering. We have willing lackeys in the Pentagon from Ash Carter to Ray Mabus to the whole rotting, spineless lot of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who are all too eager to rubberstamp the lunacy. We have an American populace so separated from the military because they never served, so ignorant of the military, so clueless about combat operations, that they really believe Jill, the cute blond Tri Delt can be a Navy SEAL and Captain Bill should be able to swap spit with Captain Bob in the Bravo Company orderly room.

I know. I’m being so insensitive. So politically incorrect…

Guess what? Our enemies aren’t politically correct. Our enemies aren’t sensitive. Our enemies aren’t compassionate. Our enemies burn people alive, behead innocent women and children and drown dissidents. They also spend their time devising ways to destroy us. The Pentagon now spends its time trying to be diverse and sensitive to the point of irrationality and seemingly spends no time training for war these days.

Women in the Combat Arms: The Greatest Disaster in US Military History
BY RAY STARMANN

Quote:

Operation You Go Girl is destined to fail; failure defined not as a NO GO, or an F, but as the nation’s young women flown home in flag draped Glad Bags when the nation loses the next war(s). When this happens, the Hollywood producers, the feminists and the cultural Marxists who were responsible for forcing the nation’s women to experience the horrors of ground combat will scratch their heads and wonder why reality is so much different from their imaginary ideas of women in combat.

Think about this: US defense policy is now being run on a fantasy propagated by Hollywood, feminists and cultural Marxists.

Hollywood created the fantasy of the rough and tough, hard charging female cop. On any given night, on any given network, you can watch an anorexic 95 pound model, turned NYPD detective brandish a pistol larger than her waist and proceed to karate chop and cuff and stuff a myriad of male heavyweight thugs with the imaginary aplomb of Chuck Norris on all night POW camp raid.

n the early morning of June 6, a uniformed Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) guard stationed outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow attacked and beat up a U.S. diplomat who was trying to enter the compound, according to four U.S. officials who were briefed on the incident.

This previously unreported attack occurred just steps from the entrance to the U.S. Embassy complex, which is located in the Presnensky District in Moscow’s city center. After being tackled by the FSB guard, the diplomat suffered a broken shoulder, among other injuries. He was eventually able to enter the embassy and was then flown out of Russia to receive urgent medical attention, administration officials confirmed to me. He remains outside of Russia.

The attack caused a diplomatic episode behind the scenes that has not surfaced until now. The State Department in Washington called in Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak to complain about the incident, an administration official said.

The motive for the attack remains unclear. One U.S. official told me that the diplomat was seeking refuge in the embassy complex to avoid being detained by the Russian intelligence services. A different U.S. official told me the diplomat may have been working as a spy in Russia under what’s known as “diplomatic cover,” which means he was pretending to be a State Department employee.

Spokesmen for the both the State Department and the CIA declined to comment on the incident or whether or not the diplomat was in fact an undercover U.S. spy.

In 2013, Russian intelligence services arrested U.S. diplomat Ryan C. Fogle, whom they accused of secretly working for the CIA. Fogle, who was working as a third secretary in the political section of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, was arrested carrying various disguises and other tools of spycraft. Russia accused him of trying to recruit Russian intelligence officers.

After interrogating Fogle, the Russian government released him to U.S. officials, but not before humiliating him in the Russian media and chastising the U.S. government for spying inside Russia. Fogle was forced to leave Russia.

If the U.S. diplomat attacked on June 6 was not a spy, U.S. officials have no other explanation for why the FSB guard was trying to stop him from entering the embassy. FSB guards are stationed outside the U.S. Embassy regularly, administration officials said.

Draconian religious freedom laws due to be introduced next week in Russia have prompted prayers for the country's evangelical Christians.

The European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) on Monday released a call to prayer, in which the organisation said it is "extremely concerned" about the new anti-terrorism law – known as Yarovaya's Law – passed on July 6.

The law, which will come into force on July 20, will prohibit evangelism anywhere outside a church or religious site – including private homes and online – and those in breach of it will be fined. Only named members of religious organisations will be able to share their faith, and even informal witnessing between individuals is forbidden.

"We ask European Christians to stand with their Russian brothers and sisters in prayer," the EEA said yesterday. "Let us pray for wisdom, hope and courage.

OPINION
HOW AND WHY RUSSIA IS MOVING TO A WAR FOOTING
BY ANDREW MONAGHAN ON 6/11/16 AT 4:00 AM

Quote:

As NATO’s Warsaw summit looms, the rivalry between the alliance and Russia is intensifying. The summit’s agenda includes a lengthy list of points of tension, including NATO enlargement, ballistic missile defence, positioning of NATO equipment and forces in Eastern European member states and NATO’s partnerships with states such as Georgia. At the same time, NATO is conducting a series of substantial military exercises in Eastern Europe, such as Anakonda-2016, the largest such exercises since the end of the Cold War.

The Russian leadership has responded with a mix of vocal criticism threatening retaliatory measures, most notably President Putin’s statements that Romania would be targeted as a result of its hosting elements of the missile defence shield. Other officials have stated that Russia will also increase military and security exercises and other activities in response.

These moves are in addition to others already announced, such as the reconstitution of the 1st Guards Tank army, this year’s strategic exercise Kavkaz 2016, and statements that the Admiral Kuznetsov would be deployed to the naval task force in the eastern Mediterranean and Borei class nuclear powered submarines would conduct test launches of Bulava ballistic missiles, an important part of Russia’s nuclear triad.

Early on the morning of Sept. 30, a Russian three-star general approached the American embassy in Baghdad, walked past a wall of well-armed Marines, to deliver face-to-face a diplomatic demarche to the United States. His statement was blunt: The Russia military would begin air strikes in neighboring Syria within the hour — and the American military should clear the area immediately.
It was a bout of brinksmanship between two nuclear-armed giants that the world has not seen in decades, and it has revived Cold War levels of suspicion, antagonism and gamesmanship.
With the launch of airstrikes in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin instigated a proxy war with the U.S., putting those nation's powerful militaries in support of opposing sides of the multipolar conflict. And it's a huge gamble for Moscow, experts say. "This is really quite difficult for them. It's logistically complex. The Russians don't have much in the way of long-range power projection capability," said Mark Galeotti, a Russian security expert at New York University.
Moscow's military campaign in Syria is relying on supply lines that require air corridors through both Iranian and Iraqi air space. The only alternatives are naval supply lines running from Crimea, requiring a passage of up to 10 days round-trip. How long that can be sustained is unclear.

Russia wants all nations to contribute to UN database on satellites in orbit
It says it will make its own database of spacecraft it is tracking public
This will include information on military satellites used by US and its allies
These are currently not included in satellite databases published by the US
For decades they have been the secretive eyes in the sky for the military and intelligence agencies, but details of many of the world's spy satellites are about to become public knowledge.

Russia has said that is planning to make public a comprehensive database of all the satellites, spacecraft and debris it has been tracking in orbit around the planet.

But unlike official lists published by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), it has promised to include military satellites used by the United States and its allies.

As you have probably heard, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was shot dead Sunday night at an art gallery right as he was about to give a speech.

The shooter, identified as 22-year-old Turkish policeman Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, reportedly fired at Karlov eight times, hitting him multiple times in the back before he fell to the ground on his back.

Cameras were rolling the entire time, catching the entire sensational shooting on video.

Was this event staged to thwart peace talks between Turkey and Russia to prevent an end to the Syrian war? It is bizarre enough to have even mainstream sources suggesting the whole thing could have been – an inside job.

Thwarted Peace?

Putin was reportedly about to announce a total ceasefire across Syria.

This shooting happened just before Russia and Turkey were scheduled to hold peace talks with Iran concerning Syria – but now, officials from both countries will be dealing with an investigation of this assassination.

These peace talks were planned without the involvement or participation of the United States or United Nations in what was being referred to as “a snub to Washington”.

Now, several Russian officials, including Putin, are convinced it was an effort at sabotage by the West; and President Erdogan has made similar statements for the Turkish side.

According to Unilad, President Putin vowed to find out who ‘directed’ the gunman’s hand:

[Putin said:] “This murder is clearly a provocation aimed at undermining the improvement and normalization of Russian-Turkish relations, as well as undermining the peace process in Syria promoted by Russia, Turkey, Iran and other countries interested in settling the conflict in Syria.”

Meanwhile, Erdogan called the assassination a provocation aimed at destroying bilateral ties.

[Erdogan said] “I believe this is an attack on Turkey, the Turkish state and the Turkish people, and also a clear provocation … [in terms of] Turkish-Russian relations. I am sure our Russian friends also see this fact. Both Turkey and Russia have the will not to be deceived by this provocation.”

‘We need to know who gave the orders’: Putin comments on ambassador assassination in Ankara

During demining of the Syrian city of Aleppo, Russian sappers have discovered a stockpile of arms, produced in Bulgaria, Germany and the US, in one of the terrorists’ headquarters, commander the Russia’s bomb disposal squad, Maj. Ivan Gromov, told the Rossiya-24 TV-channel.

“There were various ammunitions: from cartridges for a heavy machine gun to rocket projectiles for the Grad system. [We discovered] 122-millimeter mines, rounds for grenade launchers, hand grenades, shells for howitzers,” Gromov said. “The munitions we found were German, American, Bulgarian… The amount they had was somewhat disconcerting.”

The Russian Defense Ministry released a video of the ongoing demining operation, which shows crates full of various munitions; some of them marked “Produced in Yugoslavia by Ordnance Corps United States Army.”

Earlier, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova turned her attention to reports of media about a storehouse of weapons, produced in Bulgaria, which was discovered in Aleppo. Ammunition for the Grad systems, anti-tank guns and shells for anti-tank rocket launchers, produced by Bulgaria on Soviet licenses, which duration of validity has long expired, were stored there.

As the Russian Centre for reconciliation of opposing sides in Syria reported on Wednesday, since December 5, Russian sappers have demined 996 hectares of the urban territory of Aleppo. They cleared from explosive devices about 350 kilometers of roads and 2,149 buildings, including 44 schools, 38 mosques, ten medical facilities and two kindergartens. The bomb disposal squad discovered and defused some 14,700 dangerous items, including 6,700 improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

BULLET TO THE HEAD Russian diplomat ‘found dead from gunshot wounds’ at his home just hours after ambassador was gunned down at art exhibition
Russian diplomat Petr Polshikov was reportedly discovered with a bullet wound to his head at his flat in Moscow
VIDEO
BY WILL STEWART AND MARYSE GODDEN 20th December 2016, 8:55 am

A HIGH-ranking Russian diplomat has been found dead from gun shot wounds in Moscow, it is reported.

Petr Polshikov, 56, was found with a bullet wound to his head at his home in Moscow’s Balaklavsky Prospekt, according to local media.

NATO Chief Auditor In Charge Of Counter Terrorism Funding Assassinated?
By wmw_admin on December 23, 2016

Aaron Kesel — We Are Change.org Dec 23, 2016

Yves Chandelon, Chief Auditor of NATO in charge of counterterrorism funding, was reportedly found dead in the city of Andenne in the Belgian Ardennes last Friday, of a single gunshot wound to the head.

Quote:

If Chandelon’s death was an assassination, it would make the third one in the last seven days following the the assassination of Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov, and the assassination of Russian Foreign Ministry Petr Polshikov.

Chandelon was the son of a Belgian businessman a CEO for Career Kalvysob. He became a banker after his father, and then joined NATO in 1998.

As the media in Belgium reported, it’s suspected that the official most likely committed suicide. However, his family has rejected this notion and there are key facts that a lot of people are missing.

Newsbud reported that Chandelon was left handed and the gun was found in his right hand, just one among many suspicious details that his death may have not been a suicide. Another key detail is Chandelon’s debt to a friend, which U.S. alternative media and Russian sources like Pravada have not reported. In the U.S., many are reporting that the gun was found by his side. The story from a Belgium paper contradicts this narrative, claiming that the firearm was found cusped in his hand.

Spiro Skouras and Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator-turned-whistleblower, questioned Ali Syed, a Belgian resident who has provided a different view regarding the possible cause of Chandelon’s death.

“Some reports are suggesting that it’s debt related,” Syed reported. “There is some interesting connections with the location in regards to one of his friends who lived there 500 meters away from where he was found dead that friend was owed 45,000 Euros by the deceased.”

Then there is the fact that the gun was reportedly found in Chandelon’s non-dominant hand, his right hand, when Chandelon was left-handed.

President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking U.S. political groups in the 2016 presidential election.

The measures, taken during the last days of Obama's presidency, mark a new post-Cold War low in U.S.-Russian ties, which have deteriorated over differences about Syria and Ukraine.

Allegations by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally directed efforts to intervene in the U.S. election process by hacking mostly Democrats have made relations even worse.

"These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior," Obama said in a statement from vacation in Hawaii.

"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions," he said.

Quote:

It was not clear whether President-elect Donald Trump, who has repeatedly praised Putin and nominated people seen as friendly toward Moscow to senior administration posts, would seek to roll back the measures once he takes office on Jan. 20.

Trump has brushed aside allegations from the CIA and other intelligence agencies that Russia was behind the cyber attacks but on Thursday he said he would meet with intelligence officials soon.

“It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things," Trump said in a statement. "Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation," he said, without mentioning Russia.

The Kremlin, which denounced the sanctions as unlawful and promised "adequate" retaliation, questioned whether Trump approved of the new sanctions. Moscow denies the hacking allegations.

U.S. intelligence agencies say Russia was behind hacks into Democratic Party organizations and operatives ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. U.S. intelligence officials also say that the Russian cyber attacks were aimed at helping Trump, a Republican, defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, said Russia "has consistently sought to undermine" U.S. interests and the sanctions were overdue.

Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham said they intended to lead effort in Congress to "impose stronger sanctions on Russia."

Opposition from Trump could generate bipartisan discord early in his administration. "This is going to be a key source of tension post-inauguration," said Eric Lorber, a senior associate at the Financial Integrity Network, which advises banks on sanctions.

SPIES AND SANCTIONS

Obama put sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies, the GRU and the FSB, four GRU officers and three companies "that provided material support to the GRU’s cyber operations.

He said the State Department declared as "persona non grata" 35 Russian intelligence operatives and is closing two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland that were used by Russian personnel for "intelligence-related purposes". The State Department originally said the 35 were diplomats.

The 45-acre complex in Maryland includes a Georgian-style brick mansion, swimming pool, tennis courts, and cottages for embassy staff.

A senior U.S. official told Reuters the expulsions would come from the Russian embassy in Washington and consulate in San Francisco. The Russian embassy declined to comment.

The Russians have 72 hours to leave the United States, the official said. Access to the two compounds will be denied to all Russian officials as of noon on Friday.

Quote:

The State Department has long complained that Russian security agents and traffic police have harassed U.S. diplomats in Moscow, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has raised the issue with Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

The U.S. official declined to name the Russian diplomats who would be affected, although it is understood that Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, will not be one of those expelled.

Obama said the actions announced on Thursday were just the beginning.

"These actions are not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities. We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicized," Obama said.

A report detailing Russia's interference in the 2016 election as well as cyber attacks in previous election cycles would be delivered to Congress in the coming days, he said.

The sanctions were the strongest response yet by the Obama administration to Russia's cyber activities, however, a senior administration official acknowledged that Trump could reverse them and allow Russian intelligence officials back into the United States once he takes office. He said that would be inadvisable.

Obama amended an executive order originally issued in April 2015 to respond to cyber hacking to include sanctions on those who tamper with information to interfere with an election.

Trump said in October he would “cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama" on his first day in office, without saying who would determine their constitutionality.

Trump Begins To Move 370 Elite Troops From Russia To Protect His Life And Family

By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers

An intriguing Federal Security Service (FSB) information bulletin circulating in the Kremlin today reports that the Security Council (SC) has authorized the Monarch Air Group to use 7 private charter flights to move “special resources” to New York City and Washington D.C. beginning on 20 January 2017 in order to fulfill a contract with the Moscow based private security company RSB-Group—and who, in turn, were contracted with this past week by President-elect Donald Trump to “protect his person, family and properties” from the “demonic globalist elites” seeking his destruction. [Note: Some words and/or phrases appearing in quotes in this report are English language approximations of Russian words/phrases having no exact counterpart.]

Quote:

According to this bulletin, on 12 December, two senior advisors to President-elect Trump, former US Congressman Jack Kingston and American oil industry consultant Carter Page, arrived in Moscow with Congressman Kingston conducting a briefing with Federation business executives on the incoming Trump administration, and Mr. Carter meeting with top officials of the Sputnik News organization.

After completing their separate duties, this bulletin continues, Congressman Kingston and Mr. Carter then met privately with RSB Group CEO Oleg Krinitsyn—whom Mr. Carter was long acquainted with from when he served as a US Marine intelligence officer in the Western Saharan African nation of Senegal where the RSB Group maintains one of its many global offices fighting Islamic terrorists throughout the Middle East and Africa.

Inside the Ultra-Elite Special Forces of the Russian Military (Fantastic Interview)
Russian GRU Spetsnaz are one of the most renowned, formidable, and deeply respected special forces in the world. They are the in-house special forces of the Russian Military inteligence and operate exclusively on foreign territory

The Saker Subscribe to The SakerMon, Jun 1, 2015 | 33,661 19

Quote:

As a top level American military analyst, The Saker poses a number of interesting questions to the commander of 25 GRU Spetsnaz soldiers. Call signed "Ramzes", he gives us a unique inside look into GRU Spetsnaz:

command structure
tasks on foreign soil
missions in Afghanistan
training and tactics
successful mission in Crimea
life after the service
We believe this is a very interesting interview because of its rarity. These guys work on some of the toughest top secret missions around the globe. The general public knows very little about their work, and even once they leave the service they are very reluctant to give interviews or talk about their work in the special forces.

This is part 1 of 2 of the interview.

The Saker: Please introduce yourself in a few words, tell us which Brigade you served in, what rank you achieved there and what your military speciality was?

Ramzes: My GRU Spetsnaz call sign was Ramzes. I was born in Russia. I began service in 1994 and finished service in 1999. I was an airborne cadet for four years and served as an officer with the rank of lieutenant for one year after that. I served in the 16th Brigade of the GRU Spetsnaz based out of Chuchkovo. I was the commander of 25 GRU Spetsnaz soldiers. As the commander of this group it was mandatory that I was proficient and educated as a sniper, explosives and ordnace specialist, radio communication as well as use of the English language. To be a Spetsnaz commander you must be trained in all aspects of warfare employed by your entire unit.

In Spetsnaz GRU there is no platoon structure per se as in regular army units. We operate as a group and although command line is respected, all members of the group are active in intelligence and planning as well as mission execution. In Spetsnaz everybody is aware of the full situation and they all have the responsibility and opportunity to think about what the mission is, and to weigh in at any time, and if needed to think and operate on their own if required. Every member of the group must be able to act independently without needing immediate orders, yet knowing what the full scope of the mission is. They can all address the situation and assess and contribute their opinion on operations. As a commander I listen to everybody and make the final decision. This makes Spetsnaz more effective.

The Saker: There are many elite units in the Russian military, including the SOBR and ODON units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Alpha and Vympel Spetsnaz of the FSB, the 4 divisions and 8 brigades of the VDV, the Navy’s Spetsnaz units, the “Zaslon” unit of the SVR, etc. How would you compare these forces to the 7 Spetsnaz GRU brigades? What makes the Spetsnaz GRU unique and different?

Ramzes: In the beginning Spetsnaz was only GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate). They are the original and some say true Special Forces. During the 1990’s the reputation of the Spetznas was renowned throughout Russia and deeply respected. At this time all the forces created their own Spetsnaz units to piggyback on the reputation and elite status of the original GRU Spetsnaz. The very identity of Spetsnaz became a catch word for the elite unit within all of the various military and security organisations.

Now if you say that you are Spetsnaz there is more responsibility to live up to a certain reputation as the situation in Russia is exceptionally more advanced and capable compared to the 90’s.

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Originally the main operational concept of the Special Forces was to execute our missions on the territory of the enemy. Now there are domestic Spetsnaz and all sorts of various Spetsnaz delegations that were not trained for foreign incursions like the original GRU Spetsnaz.

When we were trained all GRU Spetsnaz were educated in one or more several key languages - Farsi, Mandarin, English, Arabic, French. Now they learn a greater variety of languages. For example during the Afghan War our Spetsnaz were fluent in various local dialects and after this experience this practice was expanded.

The Saker: It is often reported that there are Spetsnaz GRU units formed exclusively of officers and NCOs which are used in more complex and demanding operations. Is that so and, if yes, are these units part of the Spetsnaz Brigades or are they directly depending on the 5th (or 8th?) GRU Directorate in Moscow?

Ramzes: I can say only this. There are GRU Spetsnaz groups that consist of only officers. Every group will be working under the directorate of the GRU. Of course the most difficult and delicate missions are for groups composed of officers only and NCO’s.

Saying that the US have accused Turkey of supporting IS, speaking at a press conference on Tuesday the Turkish leader blamed the US-led coalition for assisting terrorists themselves.

Apart from IS, he also mentioned Kurdish People’s Protection Units in northern Syria (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) as groups supported by the coalition.

“We have confirmed evidence, with pictures, photos and videos,” he added.

Erdogan has also called on Saudi Arabia and Qatar to join Russia, Turkey and Iran in peace talks on Syria. On Tuesday, the Turkish leader said officials of these Gulf states should be included in the talks of foreign ministers in Kazakhstan next month, as their countries had “shown goodwill and given support” to Syria, AP reported.

However, the Turkish president stressed that Ankara itself would not take part should Syrian Kurdish groups – whom he called “terrorist organizations” – be invited to take part in the meeting.

Commenting on Ankara’s accusations, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Erdogan’s claims were “ludicrous.”

Saying that there is “no basis for truth” in Erdogan’s statement, Toner added that Washington is “100 percent behind the defeat and destruction of Daesh, even beyond Syria and Iraq.”

The State Department also praised Ankara’s efforts in northern Syria, saying that they have been “very efficient, very successful.” The US is in “constant contact” with Turkey, Toner added.

“The evidence [mentioned by Erdogan] is quite ample, [the US] have been doing it for a number of years, including running secret CIA operations through Jordan, then through Turkey and into Syria,” Michael Maloof, a security analyst and former Pentagon official, told RT.

He added that Erdogan’s comments were “disingenuous,” however, as “he continues to supply arms [into Syria] as well, with his ultimate aim [being] to go after the Kurds, and ISIS is secondary.”

On Tuesday, Moscow also accused Washington of “sponsoring terrorism” in Syria.

Commenting on the latest National Defense Authorization Act signed into law by President Barack Obama, the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that the new bill “openly stipulates the possibility” of delivering more weapons to Syria.

Those arms “will soon find their way to the jihadists,” ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, adding that America had “refused” to fully cooperate in fighting terrorism.

A grim Ministry of Defense (MoD) report released in the Kremlin today by the Security Council (SC) on the catastrophic crash into the Black Sea of an Aerospace Forces (AF) Tupolev Tu-154 airliner at 02:40 (GMT+3) while 1.5 kilometers (.9 miles) from its takeoff from Sochi International Airport was preceded by an as yet unexplained American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) encrypted “burst transmission” occurring prior to this disaster by 23 minutes—and that “strangely/coincidentally” immediately redirected a US Air Force C-130 cargo plane from its original path over the Black Sea to the Romanian Air Forces 90th Airlift Base from NATO’s Incirlik Air Base in the Republic of Turkey. [Note: Some words and/or phrases appearing in quotes in this report are English language approximations of Russian words/phrases having no exact counterpart.]

Russia's Ministry for Transportation does not consider a terrorist attack to be one of the versions that led to the crash of the Tu-154 passenger airliner of the Russian Defence Ministry in the Black Sea on December 25. For the time being, we know that the weather was fine, the pilots were experienced, and the aircraft was technically sound.
The crash of the Tu-154 over the Black Sea looks very much like the explosion of the Russian passenger jetliner over Sinai Peninsula, when the Federal Security Bureau made an official announcement about the terrorist attack only two weeks after the crash. There is another version - of radio-electronic attack.
Black boxes may not give an answer to the question of whether there was a terrorist attack on board the Tu-154. This has already been the case in the investigation of the Sinai plane crash, before specialists found traces of two-component explosives in a can of Coke, hidden in a seat pocket. The explosion caused the plane to collapse in midair. This explained the reason why the fragments of the aircraft were scattered on a large territory, FSB Director Bortnikov then said.

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The Tu-154B MO, Flight RA-85572, took off from Chkalovsky military airfield near Moscow on December 25th. The aircraft was en route to Damascus with a refuelling stop in Mozdok on a regular route across the Caspian Sea, Iran, Iraq and the whole of Syria. Mozdok was closed, and the plane detoured for 408 km in the opposite direction, to Adler, even though there were other airports working nearby (Mineralniye Vody, Nalchik, Makhachkala). Allegedly, the passengers of the aircraft were not allowed to leave the airplane in Adler for two hours. Reportedly, no one boarded the plane and nothing was loaded on the aircraft either. The plane was only refuelled, and then it took off at 5.25 a.m. Two minutes later, at 5.27 a.m., Flight RA-85572 stopped responding to dispatchers and went off radar screens.
During one of the briefings of the Ministry of Defence, the map showed that the plane disappeared from radar screens immediately after making a turn of 180 degrees. However, flightradar24 real time tracker did not reflect such a manoeuvre. Was the transponder turned off?
After the crash, the wreckage was scattered over an area of ​​about 10-12 square kilometers. Was it a current or an explosion? The Ministry for Transport said that the version of the terrorist act was not among the priorities. FSB officials rejected the version too

Versions of the disaster

The basic versions of the crash are the following: a piloting error, a technical malfunction and improper alignment of cargo on board the plane. However, Tu-154 commander Roman Volkov had the total flight time of more than three thousand hours. He had made a number of flights to Hmeymim air base in Syria. Navigator Alexander Petukhov was awarded with the Order of Courage for landing an uncontrollable Tu-154 airplane in 2011.
According to experts' estimates, Tu-154 aircraft do not fall apart in the air for no reason. The plane was designed to withstand airborne loads that dramatically exceed common flight loads. The aircraft has a three-time margin of safety of all systems. Ageing and metal fatigue after replacement of spare parts is not critical for Tu-154.
The aircraft was crashing at a flight speed of about 300 km per hour, at an altitude of about 1,200 meters. If there had been an emergency on board, the crew would have reported it, even 15-20 seconds would have been enough for that, specialists said.
Many experts note that the nature of the fragments and their dispersal over long distances say speak of an explosion on board. For example, the rack chassis was found in the water. This part of the plane retracts immediately after take-off and remains in the gondola during the flight. Was there something in the gondola that caused the landing gear of the aircraft to separate?
Strangely enough, the plane belonged to the Russian Defence Ministry, and the passengers of the aircraft were not common passengers. They were actually well-known individuals in Russia. Who could plant a bomb in the plane? Was it like in Sharm el-Sheikh? The Chkalovsky airfield in the Moscow region is known as a well-protected military facility, where it is impossible to take a bomb on board a plane.

The audio recording of the conversation between the pilots of the crashed Tu-154 and flight control officers of the Center of the Black Sea Air Traffic Management was published on YouTube.
Judging from the recording, there were no emergency situations on board. The pilots were working normally, their voices were calm. After some time, the flight control officer tried to contact the crew again, but the pilots were not responding.
Noteworthy, the authenticity of the negotiations has not been officially confirmed.
The Tu-154 plane of the Russian Ministry of Defence with 84 passengers and eight crew members on board, crashed in the Black Sea on December 25. The wreckage of the aircraft was found 1.5 km from the coast near Sochi at a depth of 50-70 meters.
"If there had been turbulence, an abnormal sound, a flash, the crew would have reported it. Even 15-20 seconds would have been enough. Yet, it appears that no one has been able to inform flight control officers of what was happening on board. This speaks of the nature of instant destruction of the aircraft - some sort of either internal or external interference," Hero of Russia, pilot Anatoly Knyshov told Pravda.Ru.

The beauty of Russian women is a part of Russia's national wealth. Let us take a look at a few interesting facts about Russian women to try to unravel the mystery of the phenomenon of Russian women.
1. In Russia, women outnumber men by ten million people.
2. In Russia, the child remains with the mother in 95 percent of cases of divorce.
3. Fyodor Vasilyev's wife delivered 69 children from 1725 to 1765. Sixteen of them were twins. The woman gave birth to seven triplets and four quadruplets 4 (the total of 27 births). Sixty-seven of 69 children survived infancy.
4. Most common female names in Russia are Anastasia, Maria, Anna and Daria.
5. Fifty-three percent of Russian women wear fur coats in winter.
6. Russian women often break records. Russia's Natalia Molchanova became the first female diver, who dove deeper than 100 meters. Soviet aviatrix Marina Raskova set a record for a distance of single flight. Muza Malinovskaya set a record in parachute jumping. Soviet athlete Galina Chistyakova owns a record in long jumping, while pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva owns 28 world records.

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7. Russian model Natalia Semanova became the youngest winner of prestigious contest "The Look of the Year." She won the contest when she was 14 years old.
8. The Soviet Union legalized abortion in 1955, and the number of abortions started growing rapidly. By 1964, a record number of abortions had been reached - 5.46 million.
9. The Russian army has about 50,000 service women.
- See more at: http://www.pravdareport.com/society/....zpsRr60u.dpuf

The Most Exotic Lands of the Russian Empire
Posted on December 19, 2016 by konst4

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At one time, there were Russian colonies in America, and in Africa, and in the present territory of Germany. In Somalia, there was a New Moscow, and in California there was river Don. However, big politics interfered with the initiatives of the Russian colonists.
In 1815, the Russian-American Company (RAC), that was "in charge of" Alaska and Kamchatka, reached an agreement with the leader of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Under the contract, he, together with the population, acted under the protection of Russia. Georg Anton Scheffer, a colonist in the Russian service, headed the development of a new Hawaiian colony. In 1816-1817, three forts were built by local residents, named in honor of Alexander I, his wife Empress Elisabeth and Barclay de Tolly (today there are only remnants of the Elizabeth fortress foundation left).

U.S. military hackers have penetrated Russia's electric grid, telecommunications networks and the Kremlin's command systems, making them vulnerable to attack by secret American cyber weapons should the U.S. deem it necessary, according to a senior intelligence official and top-secret documents reviewed by NBC News.

American officials have long said publicly that Russia, China and other nations have probed and left hidden malware on parts of U.S critical infrastructure, "preparing the battlefield," in military parlance, for cyber attacks that could turn out the lights or turn off the internet across major cities.

It's been widely assumed that the U.S. has done the same thing to its adversaries. The documents reviewed by NBC News — along with remarks by a senior U.S. intelligence official — confirm that, in the case of Russia.

U.S. officials continue to express concern that Russia will use its cyber capabilities to try to disrupt next week's presidential election. U.S. intelligence officials do not expect Russia to attack critical infrastructure — which many believe would be an act of war — but they do anticipate so-called cyber mischief, including the possible release of fake documents and the proliferation of bogus social media accounts designed to spread misinformation.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday released a joint report detailing how federal investigators linked the Russian government to hacks of Democratic Party organizations.

The document makes clear reference to the hacks of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, though it does not mention either by name.

The 13-page report provides technical details regarding tools and infrastructure used by Russian civilian and military intelligence services to “compromise and exploit networks and endpoints associated with the U.S. election, as well as a range of U.S. Government, political, and private sector entities.” (See the entire report below.)

The report, known as a “Joint Analysis Report” or JAR, refers to the Russian hacking campaign as “Grizzly Steppe.”

Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, two hawks on U.S. policy toward Russia, said they will lead the push in the upcoming Congress for sanctions on Moscow that are stronger than those the Obama administration announced Thursday.
"The retaliatory measures announced by the Obama administration today are long overdue. But ultimately, they are a small price for Russia to pay for its brazen attack on American democracy. We intend to lead the effort in the new Congress to impose stronger sanctions on Russia," the senators said in a joint statement Thursday.
The Obama administration issued an executive order Thursday authorizing sanctions on individuals and organizations it believes were involved in alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. The White House sanctioned nine entities and individuals: two Russian intelligence agencies, four officers of its largest intelligence agency, GRU, and three companies that supported GRU's operations. It also expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland in response to what it said was harassment of American diplomats in Moscow.

The FBI released a comprehensive list of the outlandish code names for software programs used by Russian hackers

Allan Smith

Dec. 29, 2016, 3:44 PM 35,328

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security released a joint report Thursday on Russian "malicious cyber activity" that included a thorough list of code names for the malware used by Russian hackers.

The joint analysis report — which refers to the Russian activity headlined by its efforts hack into US government and political organizations as "GRIZZLY STEPPE" — included a list of code names used for software the reported actors associated with the Russian military and civilian intelligence service who engaged in various phishing schemes aimed at foreign targets used in the process.

Some of those absurd names included "SEADADDY," "HAMMERTOSS," "Energetic Bear," and "Carberp." Many of the names include "duke" or "bear," such as the more well-known "Fancy Bear."

The "alternate names" as listed in the report, were created mostly by American companies. The two groups of Russian hackers were labeled APT28 and APT29.

Two Russian criminals hit with US sanctions are on FBI Most Wanted list
Published December 30, 2016 FoxNews.com
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Among the dozens of Russians punished this week by the Obama administration over election-related hacking, the FBI has pegged two as cybercriminals among the most wanted on the planet.

The cyber pros, not specifically tied to election hacking, appeared to specialize in fraud, according to the feds. They were identified as 29-year-old Alexsey Belan -- known online as "Abyrvaig" and "Fedyunya" -- and 33-year-old Yevgeny Bogachev -- AKA "lucky12345" and "slavik." The Russian nationals' specific whereabouts are unknown, according to the feds. Combined, their cyberactivity hit victims in the U.S. and abroad costing them more than $100 million, the FBI reported.

The sanctions against both men, freeezing all their assets in the U.S. and making it illegal to do business with them, were among a series of penalties imposed by the Obama administration on Thursday. The U.S. also moved to kick out 35 Russian intelligence operatives from two U.S. compounds. The Russians were declared "persona non grata" and given 72 hours to leave the country

bama sanctioned two Russian intelligence services, the GRU and the FSB, plus companies which the U.S. claimed supported the GRU. The cybersecurity firm hired by the Democratic National Committee to investigate theft of its emails determined earlier this year the hacking came from the Fancy Bear group, believed to be affiliated with the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency. The FSB is the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions," Obama said, adding, "Such activities have consequences." The president also sanctioned GRU chief Igor Korobov and three of his deputies.

Photos of Belan showed him with blond and red hair -- which the feds said were dye jobs. They said he was last known to be in Greece, but may travel to Russia, Latvia, the Maldives and Thailand.

Bogachev -- often seen with a shaved head -- would travel to spots along the Black Sea in his boat, according to investigators. They said he was last known to live in Anapa, Russia -- along the sea -- but also owns property in Krasnodar, east of there.

The FBI pinpointed Belan's crimes to breaches of three U.S.-based e-commerce firms between 2012 and 2013 in California and Nevada. The feds said he stole data from millions of accounts -- including encrypted passwords -- before offering to sell them.

As for Bogachev, he allegedly created malicious software -- or malware -- known as "Zeus" to snake into computers, swiping online banking account data as early as 2009. A version of the malware known as "GameOver Zeus" sparked more than a million computer infections, according to the FBI.

The bureau is offering up to $100,000 for information leading to Belan's arrest -- and a whopping $3 million for Bogachev.

A suspected bomb blast inside a car of the St. Petersburg Metro system has killed nine passengers and injured over 20 others. The entire transit system is shut down as bomb squads and rescuers respond to the emergency.
The explosion happened as the train was travelling between the stations Tekhnologichesky Institut and Sennaya Ploshchad of the St. Petersburg Metro, the National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) confirmed.

“The preliminary casualty report on the St. Petersburg Metro blast is nine people killed and over 20 injured, some of them seriously,” the NAC said in a statement. “All the victims are receiving the necessary medical and psychological assistance.”

Images posted on social media show bodies lying next to the damaged car, with blood apparently spilt on a bench.

Russia Releases First Photo Of St Petersburg Terrorism Suspect As Death Toll Climbs

by Tyler Durden
Apr 3, 2017 1:19 PM

According to latest update from Russian security forces, ten people (up to 14 according to unconfirmed reports) have been killed and at least 37 were injured when an explosion tore through a train carriage in a St. Petersburg metro tunnel on Monday. According to an update from Interfax news agency, the blast may have been caused by an explosive device hidden in a briefcase which had been left on the train before it was departing the Sennaya Ploshchad station towards the Tekhnologichesky Institut station.

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"According to preliminary data, the explosion in the St. Petersburg metro system was committed not by a suicide bomber; the explosive device had most likely been left behind in the railcar before the train's departure," the source said.

Alleged photos of the IED surfaced on social media. They show a medium-sized leather bag, which apparently held a container filled with explosives, with ball bearings wrapped around it.

Interfax also said that surveillance cameras had captured images of what it called the organizers of the explosion, which hit St Petersburg as President Vladimir Putin was visiting the city. As a result, Russian security forces have issued a search warrant for two people suspected to be behind the blast.

Dick Cheney, considered to be a major architect of the invasion of Irak (and presumably of Afghanistan), hasn’t yet had his fill of meaningless wars for the Jews.

AOL News:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has said that Russia’s efforts to sway the recent U.S. presidential election could be viewed by some as “an act of war.”

He made the comments during a part of his speech at the Economic Times’ Global Business Summit Monday where he talked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “cyber warfare, cyberattacks on the United States.”

“If we were to use traditional measures for understanding leaders, which involve the defense of borders and national flourishing, Putin would count as the preeminent statesman of our time.

“On the world stage, who could vie with him?”

So asks Chris Caldwell of the Weekly Standard in a remarkable essay in Hillsdale College’s March issue of its magazine, Imprimis.

What elevates Putin above all other 21st-century leaders?

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“When Putin took power in the winter of 1999-2000, his country was defenseless. It was bankrupt. It was being carved up by its new kleptocratic elites, in collusion with its old imperial rivals, the Americans. Putin changed that.

“In the first decade of this century, he did what Kemal Ataturk had done in Turkey in the 1920s. Out of a crumbling empire, he resurrected a national-state, and gave it coherence and purpose. He disciplined his country’s plutocrats. He restored its military strength. And he refused, with ever blunter rhetoric, to accept for Russia a subservient role in an American-run world system drawn up by foreign politicians and business leaders. His voters credit him with having saved his country.”

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Putin’s approval rating, after 17 years in power, exceeds that of any rival Western leader. But while his impressive strides toward making Russia great again explain why he is revered at home and in the Russian diaspora, what explains Putin’s appeal in the West, despite a press that is every bit as savage as President Trump’s?

Answer: Putin stands against the Western progressive vision of what mankind’s future ought to be. Years ago, he aligned himself with traditionalists, nationalists and populists of the West, and against what they had come to despise in their own decadent civilization.

What they abhorred, Putin abhorred. He is a God-and-country Russian patriot. He rejects the New World Order established at the Cold War’s end by the United States. Putin puts Russia first.

And in defying the Americans he speaks for those millions of Europeans who wish to restore their national identities and recapture their lost sovereignty from the supranational European Union. Putin also stands against the progressive moral relativism of a Western elite that has cut its Christian roots to embrace secularism and hedonism.

The U.S. establishment loathes Putin because, they say, he is an aggressor, a tyrant, a “killer.” He invaded and occupies Ukraine. His old KGB comrades assassinate journalists, defectors and dissidents.

Yet while politics under both czars and commissars has often been a blood sport in Russia, what has Putin done to his domestic enemies to rival what our Arab ally Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has done to the Muslim Brotherhood he overthrew in a military coup in Egypt?

What has Putin done to rival what our NATO ally President Erdogan has done in Turkey, jailing 40,000 people since last July’s coup — or our Philippine ally Rodrigo Duterte, who has presided over the extrajudicial killing of thousands of drug dealers?

Does anyone think President Xi Jinping would have handled mass demonstrations against his regime in Tiananmen Square more gingerly than did President Putin this last week in Moscow?

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Much of the hostility toward Putin stems from the fact that he not only defies the West, when standing up for Russia’s interests, he often succeeds in his defiance and goes unpunished and unrepentant.

He not only remains popular in his own country, but has admirers in nations whose political establishments are implacably hostile to him.

In December, one poll found 37 percent of all Republicans had a favorable view of the Russian leader, but only 17 percent were positive on President Barack Obama.

There is another reason Putin is viewed favorably. Millions of ethnonationalists who wish to see their nations secede from the EU see him as an ally. While Putin has openly welcomed many of these movements, America’s elite do not take even a neutral stance.

Putin has read the new century better than his rivals. While the 20th century saw the world divided between a Communist East and a free and democratic West, new and different struggles define the 21st.

The new dividing lines are between social conservatism and self-indulgent secularism, between tribalism and transnationalism, between the nation-state and the New World Order.

On the new dividing lines, Putin is on the side of the insurgents. Those who envision de Gaulle’s Europe of Nations replacing the vision of One Europe, toward which the EU is heading, see Putin as an ally.

So the old question arises: Who owns the future?

In the new struggles of the new century, it is not impossible that Russia — as was America in the Cold War — may be on the winning side. Secessionist parties across Europe already look to Moscow rather than across the Atlantic.

“Putin has become a symbol of national sovereignty in its battle with globalism,” writes Caldwell. “That turns out to be the big battle of our times. As our last election shows, that’s true even here.”

The editor-in-chief of Lebanon’s prestigious al-Akhbar newspaper, Ibrahim al-Amin, has revealed in his recent editorial [1] that Tulsi Gabbard, the United States Representative for Hawaii whose trip to Syria in January and meeting with Bashar al-Assad was widely reported in media, had conveyed President Trump’s offer of cooperation to Assad during the meeting.

The editorial in Arabic is full of detailed accounts of Gabbard's conversations with Assad, her airport handlers, security detail, etc. Although al-Akhbar newspaper generally takes the side of the Assad regime against the Syrian opposition but its reporting over the years, particularly on the conflict in Syria, has been fairly balanced, insightful and highly credible.

Additionally, what lends further credence to Ibrahim al-Amin’s account of Tulsi Gabbard’s meeting with Bashar al-Assad is the fact that the views of Gabbard and Donald Trump on the crisis in Syria are quite similar. The English translation of a relevant excerpt from the Arabic editorial reads as follows:

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Tulsi Gabbard asked Assad: “If President Trump contacted you, would you answer the call?” Assad replied: “Is this a hypothetical question, or a proposal?” Gabbard: “It’s not hypothetical. This is a question to you coming from President Trump which he asked me to convey to you. So let me repeat the question: If President Trump contacted you, would you answer the call?” Assad replied: “Of course. And I’ll give you a number where I can be reached quickly.”

Moreover, on the campaign trail, in his speeches as well as on TV debates with other presidential contenders, Donald Trump repeatedly mentioned that he has a ‘secret plan’ for defeating the Islamic State without elaborating what the plan is? To the careful observers of the US-led war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, however, the outlines of Trump’s ‘secret plan’ to defeat Islamic State, particularly in Syria, are now getting obvious.

As far as the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq is concerned, the Trump Administration is continuing with the policy of its predecessor. The Trump Administration’s policy in Syria, however, is markedly different from the regime change policy of the Obama Administration.

Unlike Iraq where the US is providing air and logistical support to Iraq’s armed forces and allied militia in their battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State militants, the conflict in Syria is much more complex that involves the Syrian government, the Sunni Arab militant groups, the Kurds, Turkey and Russia.

Regarding the recapture of Palmyra from the Islamic State by the Syrian regime, a March 2 article in the Washington Post carried a rather paradoxical headline: “Hezbollah, Russia and the US help Syria retake Palmyra” [2]. The article by Liz Sly offers clues as to how the Syrian conflict might transform under the new Trump Administration.

Under the previous Obama Administration, the unstated but known policy in Syria was regime change, and any collaboration with the Syrian regime against the Islamic State was simply not on the cards. The Trump Administration, however, looks at the crisis in Syria from an entirely different perspective, a fact which is obvious from Donald Trump’s statements on Syria and more recently, from Ibrahim al-Amin’s testimony on Tulsi Gabbard’s message of cooperation from President Trump to Bashar al-Assad. Moreover, unlike the Obama Administration which was hostile to Russia’s interference in Syria, the Trump Administration is on friendly terms with Assad’s main backer in Syria, i.e. Russia.

It is stated in the aforementioned article by Liz Sly that the US carried out 45 air strikes in the vicinity of Palmyra against the Islamic State’s targets in the month of February alone, which must have indirectly helped the Syrian government troops and the allied Hezbollah militia to recapture Palmyra along with Russia’s air support.

Although expecting a radical departure from the six years-long Obama Administration’s policy of training and arming the Sunni Arab militants against the Syrian regime by the Trump Administration is unlikely. However, the latter regards jihadists as a much bigger threat to America’s security than the former. Therefore some indirect support and a certain level of collaboration with Russia and the Syrian government against radical Islamists cannot be ruled out.

What would be different in the respective Syria policy of the two markedly different US administrations, however, is that while the Obama Administration did avail itself of the opportunity to strike an alliance with the Kurds against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, but it was simply not possible for it to come up with an out of the box solution and use the Shi’a-dominated regime and allied militias against the Sunni Arab militant groups particularly the Islamic State.

The Trump Administration, however, is not hampered by the botched legacy of the Obama Administration in Syria, and therefore it might align itself with the Kurds as well as the Russians and the Syrian government against the Islamic State’s militants in Syria.

Two obstacles to such a natural alignment of interests, however, are: firstly, Israel’s objections regarding the threat that Hezbollah poses to its regional security; and secondly, Turkey which is a NATO member and has throughout nurtured several Sunni Arab militant groups during the six years-long conflict would have serious reservations against the new American administration’s partnership not only with the Russians and the Syrian government but also with the PYD/YPG Kurds in Syria, which Turkey regards as an offshoot of separatist PKK Kurds in southeast Turkey.

It would be pertinent to mention here that unlike the pro-US, Iraqi Kurds led by Masoud Barzani, the Syrian PYD/YPG Kurds as well as the Syrian government are also ideologically aligned, because both are socialists and have traditionally been in the Russian sphere of influence.

Six Russian diplomats have died in the last 60 days. As Axios notes, all but one died on foreign soil. Some were shot, while other causes of death are unknown. Note that a few deaths have been labeled "heart attacks" or "brief illnesses."

1. You probably remember Russia's Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov — he was assassinated by a police officer at a photo exhibit in Ankara on December 19.

2. On the same day, another diplomat, Peter Polshikov, was shot dead in his Moscow apartment. The gun was found under the bathroom sink but the circumstances of the death were under investigation. Polshikov served as a senior figure in the Latin American department of the Foreign Ministry.

3. Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, died in New York this past week. Churkin was rushed to the hospital from his office at Russia's UN mission. Initial reports said he suffered a heart attack, and the medical examiner is investigating the death, according to CBS.

4. Russia's Ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, died after a "brief illness January 27, which The Hindu said he had been suffering from for a few weeks.

5. Russian Consul in Athens, Greece, Andrei Malanin, was found dead in his apartment January 9. A Greek police official said there was "no evidence of a break-in." But Malanin lived on a heavily guarded street. The cause of death needed further investigation, per an AFP report. Malanin served during a time of easing relations between Greece and Russia when Greece was increasingly critiqued by the EU and NATO.

6. Ex-KGB chief Oleg Erovinkin, who was suspected of helping draft the Trump dossier, was found dead in the back of his car December 26, according to The Telegraph. Erovinkin also was an aide to former deputy prime minister Igor Sechin, who now heads up state-owned Rosneft.
If we go back further than 60 days...

7. On the morning of U.S. Election Day, Russian diplomat Sergei Krivov was found unconscious at the Russian Consulate in New York and died on the scene. Initial reports said Krivov fell from the roof and had blunt force injuries, but Russian officials said he died from a heart attack. BuzzFeed reports Krivov may have been a Consular Duty Commander, which would have put him in charge of preventing sabotage or espionage.

8. In November 2015, a senior adviser to Putin, Mikhail Lesin, who was also the founder of the media company RT, was found dead in a Washington hotel room according to the NYT. The Russian media said it was a "heart attack," but the medical examiner said it was "blunt force injuries."

9. If you go back a few months prior in September 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s driver was killed too in a freak car accident while driving the Russian President’s official black BMW to add to the insanity.
If you include these three additional deaths that’s a total of nine Russian officials that have died over the past 2 years that WeAreChange.com's Aaron Kesel knows of - he notes there could be more.

As Kesel explains, it’s worth noting that governments, specifically the CIA, have for long periods of time had chemical concoctions that can induce a full systematic shutdown of a person’s nervous system and in some cases cause someone’s’ heart to explode.

This is perhaps one of Sergei Lavrov's finest addresses. It needs to be read in its entirety to fully appreciate the scale and depth of Lavrov's observations — although we've provided a very short excerpt for those with short attention spans.

Lavrov's driving thesis is that the U.S.-led global order has abandoned the concepts of state sovereignty and international law, choosing political expediency over consensus.

Lavrov believes that shifting economic centers will bring this era to an end:

Quote:

Ironically, the American elite, which emerged as freedom fighters and separatists anxious to cast off the yoke of the British crown, had transformed itself and its state by the 20th century into a power thirsting for global imperialist domination. The world is changing, however, and – who knows – America might yet purify itself and return to its own forgotten sources.

[..]

The redistribution of the global balance of power continues. We are witnessing new centres of economic power and associated political influence come into being in the world...The formation of a polycentric international order is an objective process. It is in our common interest to make it more stable and predictable.

Many people sent me this transcription of a recent speech by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking to the Military Academy of the Russian General Staff. Indeed, the speech is quite important for what it says, and to a certain extent, confirms many high octane speculations that I've advanced here, and more extensively in private conversations. For our purposes today, Mr. Lavrov stressed many things in his speech, but I want to focus on three: (1) the Westphalian system, (2) the foreign policy of "human rights" that has enabled US unipolarism and interventionism, and (3) the appearance of wholly new types of non-nuclear strategic weapons of mass destruction.

1) The Westphalian System: Notably, Mr. Lavrov mentions the Westphalian system, and later the Congress of Vienna system, and the consequences of not including Russia in similar collective security arrangements that occurred after World War One:

I’m aware that some entertain the notion, which is eagerly picked up by Russophobes, that Russia’s vast geography took shape due to expansion resulting from an internal sense of insecurity. As if the Russians, who for several centuries expanded their territory, were trying to “push back” a potential aggressor. To this, I can say that the greatest misfortunes in the past centuries came to Russia almost always from the West, while Russia, according to Mikhail Lomonosov’s famous dictum, “expanded through Siberia,” bringing different peoples and lands in the East under its wing. Many centuries of experience of harmonious coexistence of different ethnicities and religions within one state now allow Russia to promote a dialogue and form partnerships between cultures, religions and civilisations, which is also what happens within the UN, the OSCE and other international and regional organisations.

Another hallmark associated with our vast Russian territory concerns respect for the state, which is the guarantor of the country’s unity and the security of its citizens. A strong state also underpins an independent foreign policy. In international relations, all of that is embodied in the notion of sovereignty.

The sovereignty of states, their equality as the main subjects of international relations, was substantiated and approved within the Westphalian system that took shape in Europe in the 17th century. Currently, these traditional notions are being questioned in a number of Western countries. They are trying to secure for themselves, for example, the ability to interfere in other people’s affairs under the pretext of non-compliance with all sorts of unilaterally engineered human rights concepts like the so-called “responsibility to protect.” We are against such a distorted interpretation of the most important universal international legal norms and principles. Healthy conservatism with regard to the inviolability of the stabilising foundations of international law unites Russia with most countries of the world. (Emphasis added)

The representative of the Russian Orthodox Church has told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin this week of the urgent situation Christians are facing around the world in persecution hot spots, and has asked him to use his power to aid their situations.

RT online reported that Metropolitan Hilarion, foreign relation chief of the Russian Orthodox Church presented evidence and statistics that stated, "Every five minutes one Christian was dying for his or her faith in some part of the word."

Christians face persecution in many nations; from church demolition in Afghanistan and bombings of churches in Iraq, to the violence against Christians taking place in rebellious towns in Syria.

After delivering the facts, Metropolitan Hilarion asked Putin to make protection and defense of Christianity around the globe a major part of his foreign policy.

And, as reported by Interfax, Putin replied, "You needn't have any doubt that that's the way it will be," assuring Hilarion that Russian foreign policy would defend Christians from persecution abroad.

Carriage of carnage: Pictures emerge from INSIDE the train where a nail bomb killed 11 in St Petersburg metro attack as police issue CCTV of 'Islamist suicide bomber who also planted a second device that was defused'
The horrific blast occurred between Sennaya Ploshchad and Sadovaya train station in St Petersburg, Russia
Ambulances raced to the scene of the carnage caused by a nail bomb which was detonated on the network
At least 11 people are reported to have been killed by the blast and 50 including children have been injured
Nobody has claimed responsibility, but previous attacks on Russia have been blamed on ISIS and Chechens
Bearded man who was identified on CCTV as the main suspect has handed himself and insists he is innocent
Russian detectives now believe a suicide bomber with links to radical Islamists was behind the horrific attack
By Gareth Davies and Julian Robinson and Anthony Joseph In London and Will Stewart In St Petersburg For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 08:09 EDT, 3 April 2017 | UPDATED: 20:53 EDT, 3 April 2017

These are the first images showing carnage inside the carriage of a St Petersburg metro train after a nail bomb exploded inside - killing 11 people and injuring 50.
The horrifying pictures show bodies, blood, wreckage and debris strewn across the carriage of the train, which was hit by the blast while travelling between Sennaya Ploshchad and Sadovaya metro stations.
Police in Russia now believe a suicide bomber, who has close links to radical Islamists, was behind the attack.
He was described as being a 22-year-old from Kazakhstan and CCTV images of the suspect have been released.
One image shows a man in a red Parka jacket, wearing glasses and a dark green beanie hat and carrying a rucksack on his back. Another CCTV image shows the suspected suicide bomber walking along the street with both his fists clenched.
Despite initially issuing search warrants for two suspected terrorists, authorities believe the suspected suicide bomber was behind the attack and also have intelligence to suggest he planted a second explosive device - disguised as a fire extinguisher - which was found and defused at a nearby station.

HEY, DONALD J TRUMP, YOU NEED TO READ THESE LINKS TO STORIES ABOUT THE FALSE FLAG SUPPOSED GASSING OF KIDS IN SYRIA. I'M SURE YOU KNOW THIS STUFF, YOUR A ____ ____%$#×& IF YOU PROCEED TO FOLLOW THE NEOCONS INTO WORLD WAR 3!

---------

Notice this story here, The U.S. Trump Policy is to not intervene/meddle into the mess in Syria. Then like"NWO MAGIK" A FEW DAYS LATER, Suddely we hear of FALSE FLAG GAS ATTACKS to make Trump think Assad did it.TOTAL BS!!!

Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham are upset with the Trump administration signaling that removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power is no longer a top priority.

During a trip to Turkey, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Assad's fate will be decided by the Syrian people. That sentiment was echoed by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who told reporters, "You pick and choose your battles. And when we're looking at this it's about changing up priorities and our priority is no longer to sit and focus on getting Assad out."

Veolia, the US firm contracted by the OPCW to dispose of part of the Syrian chemical weapons stockpile, has completed disposal of 75 cylinders of hydrogen fluoride at its facility in Texas.
This completes destruction of all chemical weapons declared by the Syrian Arab Republic. The need to devise a technical solution for treating a number of cylinders in a deteriorated and hazardous condition had delayed the disposal process.
Commenting on this development, the Director-General of the OPCW, Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, said: "This process closes an important chapter in the elimination of Syria's chemical weapon programme as we continue efforts to clarify Syria's declaration and address ongoing use of toxic chemicals as weapons in that country."
Categories: Syria

Ron Paul claimed on Wednesday’s broadcast of “The Liberty Report” that all signs point toward Tuesday’s chemical attack in Syria being a false flag operation.

“Before this episode of possible gas exposure and who did what, things were going along reasonably well for the conditions,” the former Texas congressman stated. “Trump said let the Syrians decide who should run their country, and peace talks were making out, and Al Qaeda and ISIS were on the run.”

“It looks like, maybe, somebody didn’t like that so there had to be an episode, and the blame now is we can’t let that happen because it looks like it might benefit Assad.”

Dirty tricks are like favourite records: play them too much and they get jaded. We haven’t heard about gas attacks in Syria for some time, but now, once again, the media — and, sadly, the Trump administration — is in overdrive about what is claimed to be a gas attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikoun by the Assad government.

First of all, the use of gas should not be regarded as particularly “evil” in a war that has also seen bombing and shelling of civilian areas as a matter of course, not to mention all the refinements to cruelty that ISIS and their like have introduced. But it is. We get it. Gas is “evil,” and you’re very, very bad if you use it. OK? So, stop!

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad says that concerns of a war breaking out with Israel is far from reality, because Syria "is already in this war," according to Yediot Ahronot.

Yediot cited an interview with a Croatian newspaper in which Al-Assad explained, "Israel is a partner of Turkey, the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others. This war broke out with new tools and, in effect, our victory over the terrorists in the country, who are fighting for Israel, is a victory over all these countries together. Israel is trying to help terrorists wherever the Syrian army is advancing and attacking in one way or another in order to stop the army's momentum."

Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) made a secret trip to northern Syria last week to meet with U.S. troops and Kurdish fighters amid their longstanding battle to defeat ISIS, his office said Wednesday.

“Senator McCain traveled to northern Syria last week to visit U.S. forces deployed there and to discuss the counter-ISIL [another acronym for ISIS] campaign and ongoing operations to retake Raqqa,” a McCain spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Wednesday, referring to ISIS' Syrian capital. “Senator McCain’s visit was a valuable opportunity to assess dynamic conditions on the ground in Syria and Iraq.“

Quote:

The trip comes as the Trump administration continues to re-evaluate the U.S. approach and plan to defeat ISIS. On the campaign trail, President Trump frequently criticized the Obama administration's policy to defeat the group that controls territory in both Syria and neighboring Iraq, but which has lost significant territory in the last two years.

McCain's office did not confirm the exact dates he was in Syria.

On Wednesday, the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition pushed further into Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, in an a bid to wrest control of it from ISIS, which captured the city in 2014. Meanwhile, the U.S. military and its allies have for months been preparing a campaign to retake Raqqa in Syria, where ISIS has its de facto capital.

Members of Congress rarely travel to Syria as it does not have diplomatic ties to the U.S.

McCain, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also traveled to the country in 2013 to meet with Syrian rebel leaders fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The senator has been a consistent proponent of increased military action in Syria, both against Assad's forces as well as ISIS. He was very critical of the Obama administration's decision not to launch airstrikes against Assad's forces after it came to light that the Syrian president had reportedly used chemical weapons against Syrian rebels.

But McCain has also emerged as a critic of aspects of Trump’s foreign policy. During a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday, McCain said the new administration was in a state of "disarray."

Still, McCain agreed with Trump’s order to review the country’s military “strategy and plans to defeat ISIL,” according to the statement provided Wednesday by his office. “Senator McCain looks forward to working with the administration and military leaders to optimize our approach for accomplishing ISIL’s lasting defeat."

By Michelle Nichols and Tom Perry
UNITED NATIONS/BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. officials rejected Russia's assertion on Wednesday that Syrian rebels were to blame for a poison gas attack rather than President Bashar al-Assad, and signaled possible unilateral action over what Donald Trump called an "affront to humanity".

The Syrian Air Force has destroyed a warehouse in Idlib province where chemical weapons were being produced and stockpiled before being shipped to Iraq, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman said.
The strike, which was launched midday Tuesday, targeted a major rebel ammunition depot east of the town of Khan Sheikhoun, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

The warehouse was used to both produce and store shells containing toxic gas, Konashenkov said. The shells were delivered to Iraq and repeatedly used there, he added, pointing out that both Iraq and international organizations have confirmed the use of such weapons by militants.

In a speech at the Herzliya Conference, Israel’s military intelligence chief, Major General Herzi Halevy, took Israel’s long-standing position that it “prefers ISIS” over the Syrian government to a whole ‘nother level, declaring openly that Israel does not want to see ISIS defeated in the war.

Quoted in the Hebrew-language NRG site, linked to Maariv, Maj. Gen. Halevy expressed concern about the recent offensives against ISIS territory, saying that in the last three months the Islamist group was facing the “most difficult” situation since its inception and declaration of a caliphate.

Israeli officials have regularly expressed comfort with the idea of ISIS conquering the whole of Syria, saying they find it preferable to the Iran-allied government surviving the war. At the same time, they were never so overtly supportive of ISIS and its survival.

Halevy went on to express concern that the defeat of ISIS might mean the “superpowers” leaving Syria, saying this would put Israel “in a hard position” after being so opposed to the survival of the Syrian government.

He then said Israel will do “all we can so as to not find ourselves in such a situation,” suggesting that the Israeli military is looking at direct support for ISIS as a matter of policy, and not just rhetoric.

Elite Israeli troops rescue wounded Syrians from the world's worst war almost every night
They have saved more than 2,000 people since 2013, at a cost of 50 million shekels (£8.7million)
Many are enemies of Israel and some may even be fighters for groups affiliated to Al Qaeda
MailOnline embedded with Israeli commandos stationed on the border between Israel and Syria
Dramatic video filmed by MailOnline and the Israeli army shows these operations taking place
Israel says that the operation is purely humanitarian but analysts believe Israel also has strategic reasons
For more of the latest news updates on the Syrian war visit www.dailymail.co.uk/syria
Under cover of darkness, an Israeli armoured car advances down the potholed road that leads to Syria. As it crests a small hill, the driver picks up the radio handset and tells his commanding officer that the border is in sight.

He kills the engine. Ten heavily-armed commandos jump out and take cover, watching for signs of ambush. Then five of them move up to the 12ft chainlink fence that marks the limit of Israeli-held territory.

On the other side, on the very edge of Syria, lies an unconscious man wrapped like a doll in a blood-drenched duvet. The commandos unlock the fence, open a section of it and drag him onto Israeli soil.

But this wounded man is not an Israeli soldier, or even an Israeli citizen. He is an Islamic militant. And his rescue forms part of an extraordinary mission that is fraught with danger and has provoked deep controversy on all sides.

MailOnline has gained unprecedented access to this secretive and hazardous operation, embedding with the commandos to obtain exclusive footage, and interviewing the medics who are obliged to treat Syrian militants, some of whom openly admit that they intend to kill Israelis.

As if exposing Israeli and (((“American”))) support for ISIS and Al-Qaeda in Syria wasn’t anti-Semitic enough, Hawaii Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard’s recent trip to Syria was coordinated by high ranking members of Syria’s “Neo-Nazis”: the Syrian Social-Nationalist Party (SSNP). The SSNP is part of a coalition government with the quasi-NS Ba’athists of Bashar Al-Assad, with the distinction being a more racially-oriented (Ba’athists are more civic nationalist) worldview that focuses on the Phoenician origins and Greek/Hellenic influence on the people of Syria and Lebanon.

Gabbard’s been pinging loudly on Goydars for the past year, however. At any other time, these connections and this trip would’ve gotten Gabbard in big trouble (including targeting from Menorah-lighting cuckservatives).

NY Times Journalist Who Lied About Saddam WMDs Now Claiming Assad Used WMDs
Eric Striker
Daily Stormer
April 4, 2017

Quote:

Michael R. Gordon, who is either Jewish or a neo-con paid operative, was fundamental in drumming up support for the war in Iraq. Besides his Jewish accomplice Judith Miller, the New York Times published an article in 2002 asserting that Saddam Hussein was well on his way to producing nuclear weapons. His source was a fear-mongering Iraqi defector and “intelligence sources,” neither which provided evidence.

This turned out to be a lie.

Other highlights were misleading claims parroted in neocon press that the bombs used to kill American GIs in Iraq were provided by Iran.

This also turned out to be a lie.

There are more examples, big and small, of this guy publishing things that aren’t true, but with very real consequences for mankind. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of US troops are now dead, millions maimed or their lives altered forever, a whole region is now in flames. Part of the responsibility falls on the fake news this dirtbag has spent decades manufacturing for the Jew York Times.

“Greater Israel”: The Zionist Plan for the Middle East
The Infamous "Oded Yinon Plan". Introduction by Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research Editor’s Note

The following document pertaining to the formation of “Greater Israel” constitutes the cornerstone of powerful Zionist factions within the current Netanyahu government, the Likud party, as well as within the Israeli military and intelligence establishment. (article first published by Global Research on April 29, 2013).

In recent developments, President Donald Trump has confirmed his support of Israel’s illegal settlements and his opposition to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which confirms the illegality of the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

According to the founding father of Zionism Theodore Herzl, “the area of the Jewish State stretches: “From the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates.” According to Rabbi Fischmann, “The Promised Land extends from the River of Egypt up to the Euphrates, it includes parts of Syria and Lebanon.”

Quote:

When viewed in the current context, the war on Iraq, the 2006 war on Lebanon, the 2011 war on Libya, the ongoing wars on Syria and Iraq, the war on Yemen, the process of regime change in Egypt, must be understood in relation to the Zionist Plan for the Middle East.

The latter consists in weakening and eventually fracturing neighboring Arab states as part of an Israeli expansionist project.

Bear in mind this design is not strictly a Zionist Plan, it is an integral part of US foreign policy, namely Washington’s intent to fracture and balkanize the Middle East.

“Greater Israel” consists in an area extending from the Nile Valley to the Euphrates. According to Stephen Lendman, “A near-century ago, the World Zionist Organization’s plan for a Jewish state included:
• historic Palestine;
• South Lebanon up to Sidon and the Litani River;
• Syria’s Golan Heights, Hauran Plain and Deraa; and
• control of the Hijaz Railway from Deraa to Amman, Jordan as well as the Gulf of Aqaba.
Some Zionists wanted more – land from the Nile in the West to the Euphrates in the East, comprising Palestine, Lebanon, Western Syria and Southern Turkey.”
The Zionist project supports the Jewish settlement movement. More broadly it involves a policy of excluding Palestinians from Palestine leading to the eventual annexation of both the West Bank and Gaza to the State of Israel.

Greater Israel would create a number of proxy States. It would include parts of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the Sinai, as well as parts of Iraq and Saudi Arabia. (See map).

According to Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya in a 2011 Global Research article, The Yinon Plan was a continuation of Britain’s colonial design in the Middle East:

The great investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, in two previous articles in the London Review of Books («Whose Sarin?» and «The Red Line and the Rat Line») has reported that the Obama Administration falsely blamed the government of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad for the sarin gas attack that Obama was trying to use as an excuse to invade Syria; and Hersh pointed to a report from British intelligence saying that the sarin that was used didn’t come from Assad’s stockpiles. Hersh also said that a secret agreement in 2012 was reached between the Obama Administration and the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, to set up a sarin gas attack and blame it on Assad so that the US could invade and overthrow Assad. «By the terms of the agreement, funding came from Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia and Qatar; the CIA, with the support of MI6, was responsible for getting arms from Gaddafi’s arsenals into Syria». Hersh didn’t say whether these «arms» included the precursor chemicals for making sarin which were stockpiled in Libya, but there have been multiple independent reports that Libya’s Gaddafi possessed such stockpiles, and also that the US Consulate in Benghazi Libya was operating a «rat line» for Gaddafi’s captured weapons into Syria through Turkey. So, Hersh isn’t the only reporter who has been covering this. Indeed, the investigative journalist Christoph Lehmann headlined on 7 October 2013, «Top US and Saudi Officials responsible for Chemical Weapons in Syria» and reported, on the basis of very different sources than Hersh used, that «Evidence leads directly to the White House, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, CIA Director John Brennan, Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar, and Saudi Arabia´s Interior Ministry». And, as if that weren’t enough, even the definitive analysis of the evidence that was performed by two leading US analysts, the Lloyd-Postal report, concluded that, «The US Government’s Interpretation of the Technical Intelligence It Gathered Prior to and After the August 21 Attack CANNOT POSSIBLY BE CORRECT». Obama has clearly been lying.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday that steps are "underway" to organize an "international community effort" to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad, a major policy shift triggered by the latest chemical weapons attack in the country's ongoing civil war.

"With the acts that he has taken, it would seem that there would be no rule for him to govern the Syrian people," Tillerson told reporters. "The process by which Assad would leave is something that I think requires and international community effort, both to first defeat ISIS within Syria, to stabilize the Syrian country to avoid further civil war, and then to work collectively with our partners around the world through a political process that would lead to Assad leaving."

Tillerson added that "those steps are underway" already.

It's a marked shift from last week, when Tillerson told reporters in Turkey that Assad's future would be up to the Syrian people — an apparent departure from former President Barack Obama's stated position that he had to leave power. And it adds a new layer of complexity to Tillerson's upcoming trip to Moscow, as Russia has provided Assad with major military and diplomatic support.

"It is very important that the Russian government consider carefully their continued support for the Assad regime," Tillerson said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's team signaled that Assad might not enjoy "unconditional support" from them, as they disclaimed responsibility for the Syrian gas attack. "It is not correct to say that Moscow can convince Mr. Assad to do whatever is wanted in Moscow," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "This is totally wrong."

One critical test is whether the Russians will concur with the U.S. assessment that Assad's regime carried out the attack. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed in 2013 that the Russians would support retaliation against the Assad regime in the event that his regime was proven to use chemical weapons. But the Russians have denied that he was responsible for every ensuing use of gas in the Syrian civil war.

Quote:

"It is very important that the Russian government consider carefully their continued support for the Assad regime," Tillerson said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's team signaled that Assad might not enjoy "unconditional support" from them, as they disclaimed responsibility for the Syrian gas attack. "It is not correct to say that Moscow can convince Mr. Assad to do whatever is wanted in Moscow," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "This is totally wrong."

One critical test is whether the Russians will concur with the U.S. assessment that Assad's regime carried out the attack. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed in 2013 that the Russians would support retaliation against the Assad regime in the event that his regime was proven to use chemical weapons. But the Russians have denied that he was responsible for every ensuing use of gas in the Syrian civil war.

The Syrian Arab Army has been toppling Al-Qaeda outposts in Hama – site of the recent controversy – at a lightning fast pace. In about one week, peace negotiations are scheduled to continue, with the Assad government and its Russian and Iranian allies in a position of strength, and President Trump eager to bring this conflict to an end. The refugees, the rape and murder, the terrorist attacks in the West, the chaos in the Middle East – all of it about to come to an end through a simple policy: “America First.”

Now, overnight, the United States is at the brink of war. A “he says/she says” gas attack against a terrorist outpost, sourced and vetted entirely on the worthless word of the shady “White Helmets” and a lone Arab internet troll living in the United Kingdom. While Donald Trump has been vague, people working for his administration like Nikki Haley have been rattling sabres in our name, writing checks that you can’t cash without sacrificing the lives of millions.

Quote:

Both Russia and Syria are proclaiming that the sarin gas was spread after bombing a rebel weapons laboratory. The Jewish war media is portraying Bashar al-Assad – a pragmatic Arab nationalist who, along with his father, has reconciled the deep sectarianism of his country for decades – as some kind of sadistic WWE heel. Common sense blots out any motive for engaging in this kind of behavior, especially after Syria agreed to eliminate its chemical weapon stockpile and an unspoken agreement to keep him in power was reached with the USA – the main proxy belligerent in the “civil” war. The only people who gain from this are the terrorists and the Jews who want them to topple Assad.

But to a Jew, they want the war first – then they’ll vanish for a while when it turns out that they lied. The very Jews who lied about Iraq have returned for a sequel as Semitic and unpopular as Zoolander 2. In fact, they are scrambling to goad America into launching an assault on Syria before any investigation takes place, which by extension means a war with Iran and Russia.

Ari Fleischer, the avowed anti-Trump kike who once baby-sat George W. Bush, is demanding through the amplifiers that Trump begin unilateral attacks on the Syrian army. Judith Miller, the Jew who was fired from the New York Times for lying about WMDs in Iraq, is over at Fox News reiterating Fleischer’s sentiment. One of the architects of the Iraq War, Paul Wolfowitz, is back to his old tricks. The script was prepared a long time ago.

Media Goes Quiet as Russia Exposes US Lies at Security Council
Russia just called out the West for using the UN to promote regime change — but no one reported it

Richard Brandt Subscribe to 16986Wed, Apr 5, 2017 | 13929 70

Quote:

Twitter was flooded with commentary about Nikki Haley's call to arms against Russia during the Security Council meeting on Wednesday afternoon. But no one bothered to report what Russia had to say.

Russia's deputy United Nations ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said that the West's "obsession with regime change is what hinders this Security Council."

He noted that for Washington and its partners, "everything is guided by regime change" and allegations that Assad used chemical weapons in an attack in Idlib province on Tuesday are based on "falsified reports from the White Helmets", an organization that has been "discredited long ago".

As Infowars reported on Wednesday, the White Helmets, a al-Qaeda affiliated group funded by George Soros and the British government, reportedly staged the sarin attack on civilians in the Syrian city of Khan Shaykhun to lay blame on the Syrian government.
“Unsurprisingly, the mainstream media and neo-con politicians have been quick to regurgitate the al-Qaeda-linked rebels version of the events before any investigation takes place,” reported Mimi Al-Laham

U.S. 'backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria and blame it on Assad's regime'
Leaked emails from defense contractor refers to chemical weapons saying 'the idea is approved by Washington'
Obama issued warning to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month that use of chemical warfare was 'totally unacceptable'
By LOUISE BOYLE
PUBLISHED: 14:16 EST, 29 January 2013 | UPDATED: 14:16 EST, 29 January 2013

Quote:

Leaked emails have allegedly proved that the White House gave the green light to a chemical weapons attack in Syria that could be blamed on Assad's regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country.

A report released on Monday contains an email exchange between two senior officials at British-based contractor Britam Defence where a scheme 'approved by Washington' is outlined explaining that Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical weapons.

Barack Obama made it clear to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month that the U.S. would not tolerate Syria using chemical weapons against its own people.

WHEN IN ROME DO as the Romans do, but when in DC do what the Jews want or your political career is over.
“We need to fix America rather than nation-building abroad,” said Trump in 2015.
But that all came to an end when Trump told reporters today that his attitude toward Assad and Syria has “changed very much.”
Of course! The more things change the more things stay the same: JEWS rule DC. Trump’s just a pawn in their game.
Jews have been pressing for full-scale war against Syria ever since Putin upended the Jew-enabled US policy of toppling Assad preventing Jewmerica from crippling the “Axis of Resistance” of Syria, Iran, and Lebanon’s military arm, Hezbollah.
And Trump plays the Jewish card to the Tee.
Accusing Syria of using “chemical weapons” in the Idlib explosion, he insisted that “these heinous acts by the Assad regime cannot be tolerated….when you kill innocent children that goes beyond red lines.”
Never mind that his botched raid in Yemen murdered “innocent children.”